Abstract
Purpose :
Inflammatory reaction is present not only in the eye but also in the peripheral blood of patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). In this study, we aim to investigate the association between aqueous humor and serum inflammatory molecules in patients with RP.
Methods :
The paired samples of aqueous humor and serum were collected from 36 eyes of 36 RP patients at the time of cataract surgery. The concentration of 15 cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, IL-23, interferon [IFN]-γ, and tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α, TNF-β) and 9 chemokines (eotaxin, growth-related oncogene [GRO]-α, I-309, IL-8, IFN-γ-inducible protein [IP]-10, monocyte chemotactic protein [MCP]-1, MCP-2, regulated activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted [RANTES], and thymus and activated regulated chemokine [TARC]) were evaluated by a multiplexed immunoarray (Q-Plex). The correlation of chemokines/cytokines among aqueous humor and serum was analyzed with Spearman’s rank test.
Results :
The levels of I-309, IP-10, and MCP-1 were significantly higher in the aqueous humor than those in the serum of RP patients (All P < 0.01). Correlation analysis between aqueous and serum levels of each molecule showed that there were positive correlations for IL-23, I-309, IL-8 and RANTES (IL23: ρ = 0.76, P < 0.0001; I-309: ρ = 0.45, P = 0.0012; IL-8: ρ = 0.32, P = 0.0269; RANTES: ρ = 0.70, P < 0.0001).
Conclusions :
Ocular elevation of I-309, IP-10, and MCP-1 may contribute to microglial activation and recruitment of peripheral monocytes/lymphocytes in RP patients. Some molecules such as I-309, IL-8, RANTES and IL-23 may mediate the local-systemic interaction in the immunopathology of RP.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.